What doesn't kill us makes us stronger
by readthishit
Summary: Our favorite Gallagher girls are told by government to observe and interrogate a new Gallagher girl, who was abducted by aliens five years ago, along with two other guys. They are told to find out if the aliens are a threat, but it becomes clear that's not the real concern. What are those three hiding, why were they brought back, and what happened to them in those five long years?


**What Didn't Kill Us Made Us Stronger **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Gallagher series or anything in relation. **

**A/N Sorry if my translations aren't accurate, I just used google translate. M rating for gore, swearing, and mild sexual content in later chapters. Takes place after the fifth book. Please review! It's my first fan fic, so be nice!**

**Chapter 1 Start Afresh **

As I was lead past the gates to the Gallagher Academy, I couldn't help but feel as though I didn't belong. I suppose I've had that feeling for a while now, ever since I returned. Of course it would have been easier if Luke and James were with me, but this was a fancy, girls' only boarding school. What was I doing here? This is where the super rich and smart people go! God, I couldn't even imagine the tuition! But, I guess this place is my best chance of getting my life back together. I still don't understand why they offered to take me in the first place. I guess the fear of the dreaded first day was finally setting in, because I couldn't help but worry about the type of girls that go to this school. Snobby, rich, smart, pretty, and I bet they had tons of friends. I pictured them bulling me. I guess the headmistress noticed me tense up, because she turned to me and said, "Raya, no need be nervous."

"I can't help it, Mrs. Morgan. I just don't think I'm boarding school material." We walked through the doors and I have to be honest, it looked like a cathedral combined with castle! There were beautiful stone walls and stain glass windows and a huge staircase filled with uniformed girls running about. Some girls were looking at me, and I just felt more and more out of place. I mean, I didn't even have my uniform yet! I was sticking out like a sore thumb! The headmistress led me to her office and I took a seat. I regretted wearing my wedges, because it looked like I'd be doing a lot of walking here. The headmistress sat by her desk and turned to me.

"This is no ordinary boarding school. This is a spy school. Here, we train girls to be the best of the best, and then they move on to work for the government in some way, shape, or form." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"What…? Spy school? Like James Bond?" I asked. This had to be some weird administrative joke, right?

"Not all of our girls move on to field work. Some choose a more scientific path." She said. Was this really happening? Her face was dead serious. Then I realized why I was really here. They wanted to watch me, observe me. They knew something about what happened to Luke, James, and I. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. The headmistress must have sensed my realization, because she said, "It's not too late to change your mind, Raya. You see this cup of tea? Inside it is a drug that will wipe your memory. You won't remember this conversation, and we won't force you to go here."

I looked long and hard at the cup. "The other girls..." I trailed off, unsure if what to say.

"All the girls _are_ trained to be similar James Bond, but for the real world. The girls in your class are able hack any data base, defuse a bomb, and take down full grown men twice there size. We are a sisterhood. Everyone hear will treat you as they would treat their best friend. Trust me." She looked at me with soft eyes, and at that moment I knew I had to stay here.

"Alright, I'll do it." I said.

"This must stay a secret. You can't tell anyone, not even Luke and James." She said in a serious tone. I nodded, and said to myself, 'Don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets.' She got up and led me to the door.

"Come here, Raya. I'm going to show you where your room is. You will also get to meet you roommates. Their names are Bex, Liz, Macey, and my daughter, Cammie."

I turned to her and said, "Five girls in a room?"

She responded by saying, "Don't worry. We did some renovations and had the room enlarged in case you agreed. Plus, these girls have the most real word experience, and have been in situations similar to yours." I gave her a suspicious look. "Don't worry. I won't bombard you with questions. But as far as we know, they will be able to better understand you."

I sighed. If this really was a school for spies, I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before they asked about the incident five years ago. And I'm sure they know of several different ways of finding out. We finally reached the door, and I couldn't help but hold my breath as the headmistress lead me inside. Three of them looked like they were in the middle of a conversation, but looked up and smiled politely. The fourth girl looked up from her laptop and did the same. I tried to give a sincere smile, but I couldn't help worrying that I'd never be able to give a real smile ever again. Needless to say, that kind of killed my mood.

"Ladies, this is your new roommate Raya. Now remember what we discussed, and try to make her feel at home." The headmistress turned and left me with my new roommates. Great, who knows what the headmistress told them! At least they already brought my stuff up. One of the girls stood up and walked over to me.

"Hi. I'm Bex. That's Macey, Cammie, and Liz." I politely said hello, and walked over to my bed. I noticed it was the only one that wasn't a bunk bed. Well, so much for calling top. I took off my shoes and started to unpack when the girl I think was Macey came over.

She asked, "So, any questions about the spy school?"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." I said. It's not like I haven't had enough excitement for a lifetime. And now this! "It's a lot to take in." I couldn't help but sigh as I said this. Cammie looked at me like she knew what I meant.

"I know what you're going through. We're here to help." She said it as if she actually understood how I felt. I only felt disappointment.

"And you're here to spy on me." They all looked a little guilty when I said that.

The girl named Liz looked especially guilty as she said, "We can't help it. It's our job." I noticed for the first time how small she was.

"But we DO want to help you. If you let us try." Cammie said. Bex told me where I could put my clothes, and when I finished, Cammie said, "I will be showing you around today. You'll be able to go to classes with us. However, you won't learn the same things. You'll learn what you would have been taught had you stayed in school."

"Great, more algebra." I said sarcastically.

"Don't worry!" Liz piped up. "We'll be more than happy to tutor you!" She smiled sweetly.

"Come on guys." Bex said. I liked her British accent. "We need to go get breakfast."

"Want to come with us?" Cammie asked.

"Shouldn't I put my uniform on first?" I asked.

"Not until tomorrow." Macey said.

"Today, you and I are just going to explore." Cammie said. I put my shoes back on and followed them to breakfast. Once we got food and sat down, the girls started speaking another language.

"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot to mention that every day, we are required to speak another language. Today, it's Polish." Cammie said. "Don't worry. We'll still speak English to you."

"Uh, okay?" I couldn't help but think of Luke and James. I could speak another language with them, but I couldn't risk anyone else learning it. We were chosen and trusted, and I couldn't risk everything by speaking it. I guess they noticed my silence, because Bex spoke up.

"What's the matter, Raya?"

"Nothing," I said. "I just miss Luke and James."

"Don't you know another language?" Liz asked.

"Yeah…?" I said. I didn't like where this was going.

"Do they know it too?" Liz asked.

"…Yes." I said. I tried focusing on what I was eating.

"How did you learn it?" I didn't like Liz's prying. So I just shrugged my shoulders. They should know that I don't plan on talking about where I went when we disappeared five years ago. Or who took us. That was between me, Luke, and James.

"Przestań, Liz!" Bex said something to Liz in Polish. Wonder what it was.

"Przepraszam." Liz said back.

"Już dobrze, Liz." Cammie said. "Wiemy że chciał dobrze, ale Nie sadzę powinieneś być w tak bezpośredni."

"Uh, English please." I said.

"Right, sorry." Cammie said.

"It's okay. So, where am I going to go first?" I asked.

"Well," Cammie said. "I was thinking Culture and Assimilation with Madame Dabney. It's the only class where we'll learn the same thing. She'll have a class going on, so we're just passing by the classroom."

"What does she teach us, exactly?" I asked.

"It's basically manners and etiquette." Cammie responded. "You can call me Cam, by the way."

Just then I saw a guy walk over to our table. "Is that a guy?" I thought this was an all-girls school!

"Zach!" Cam said. "It's about time you got here. I haven't seen you since summer! These first few weeks have been boring without you. Although I don't think it's fair that you got to continue hunting the Circle while we were forced to go back to school."

The Circle? "I thought this was an all-girls school." I said, confused.

"He's an exception." Macey said.

"Who's this? She looks familiar." Zach asked.

"This is Raya. Raya _Peddleton_." Cam said.

"Oh, I thought I recognized her from somewhere. It would also explain why you weren't speaking Polish." Zach said.

"You recognized me?" I asked.

"Um, from the news." He said. The last thing he wanted to tell her was how any and everybody already knew about her and her friends, James and…Luke? They weren't exactly his top priority over the summer.

"But if he's aloud here, couldn't Luke and James come too?" I asked.

"It's complicated." Bex said. I would _not_ accept that answer.

"If I can go here, and he can go here," I pointed to Zach, "then why couldn't they come here?"

"Look, Raya," Cam said. She was trying to phrase it without giving away how much they really knew about her. "…we have to see how you handle being here before we could even consider bringing one of them."

"So there IS a chance they could come here!" I said. My heart filled with hope. "Well...I guess you could phrase it that way..." Cam said. That's not the reaction she was going for. She looked at the others, but they just shrugged. "But it's not as simple as you think."

"It seems pretty simple to me." I said. "I behave and prove I can go here, and then I ask if Luke and James can come too!"

"No, Raya. It doesn't work like that. I...uh...guys, a little help?" Cam asked. It was hard to explain this to a civilian.

"Well, basically, because of your unique...experience, there's too much doubt and too many unanswered questions to involve anyone else." Bex tried to give the simplest answer she could, but it didn't work out so well.

"So?" I said.

"Look," Bex tried again. "As a civilian, I don't expect you to understand-" I cut Bex off.

"Are you calling me stupid?" I said, a little offended. I think that made Bex mad, but Cam stepped in before Bex said anything else.

"No, of course not! It's just, we have a certain way of doing things here, and civilians probably wouldn't understand why. It's just... different here."

"Well," I said. "Did you ever stop and wonder if your way really IS the best way?"

"Everything has its problems. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's worked so far." Cam said.

"Tak, jak to cywil pracujący na zewnątrz?" Zach asked in Polish.

"What'd he say?" I asked. Cam punched him on the shoulder.

"Nothing important." Cam said.

"Co mam zrobić?" Zach asked with a smirk on his face. Cam punched him again.

"Ow!" He said as he rubbed his shoulder. He was still smirking.

He reminded me of Luke. Ever since we got back, Luke was smirking all the time. I never saw him do it before, and it gave me hope that things would get better. Maybe the nightmares would even stop. Oh, shit! The nightmares! I completely forgot! The last thing I wanted was for them to ask about the nightmares! That wouldn't be easy to explain in the morning, especially if I talk in my sleep. They must have seen my worried look, because Cam asked if I was alright.

"I'm fine." I lied and gave a fake smile. I've been doing that a lot ever since we returned. I swear when I glanced at Cam I saw something in her eyes. It was as if she knew exactly what was going through my mind.

"Anyways," Macey said. "Breakfast is over and we need to get to class."

"Come on, Raya. It's time to show you around." Cam said. She said goodbye to her friends and hugged Zach. "We believe letting you attend classes with us will make your adjustment easier." I nodded in agreement. Cam led me around the school showing me which classrooms I'd be going to and the quickest way to get there. Before we went out to the P and E barb, Cam let me go back to our room and change shoes. There were some 8th graders fighting, and once Cam said they were nothing compared to the seniors, I decided then and there that I would not fight anyone at this school. Ever. Instead, I decided I would just do yoga every day and stay as far away as I could from the girls that were fighting. By the time lunch came around, I'd already been everywhere in the school. Well, except the sub levels. Since I was a civilian, I couldn't go there and would instead go with Liz to a lab or something. We ate lunch with Cam's friends and once again, they started speaking Polish. Once lunch was over, Cam and I decided to ask her mom if Cam could show me around town.

"I don't know. Raya is a little famous right now. Some of the locals could recognize you." Mrs. Morgan looked directly at Cammie.

"Don't worry. I know how to act normal. Besides, I'm still technically a civilian, I have rights, right?" I said slash asked.

"Mom, we'll have comms on at all times. I can easily protect us both, and we both know the no one would try anything while I'm so close to the school. Too risky, even for Zach's mom."

"Fine. I believe it wouldn't help to keep you hidden away, Raya." Cam's mom said.

"Yes! I'll go get my money!" I said. Although I didn't understand what Zach's mom had to do with this. Cam went with me to our room where I got my purse. "What exactly does the town have to offer?" I asked Cam once we arrived in town.

"Shops, a movie theater, a candy store…" She said. She almost mentioned the pharmacy, but didn't want to explain anything about Josh. We walked for a little bit, and then I decided to go to one of the shops while Cam went across the street to the candy store. Suddenly, I heard through the comm Cammie put in my ear that some local guys were heading my way.

"Don't worry, they're just guys. I can handle myself." I told her reassuringly. I rolled my eyes. Never the less, she headed over to me. Little did I know, they weren't the nicest guys in town. Cam told me later that she was bored one day and started looking up the locals. Apparently, the one guy got suspended for starting a fight not long ago. Cam was about to cross the street when two other people stopped her. I heard her over the comms and I guess she knew those people.

"Oh, Josh, Dede...hi." Cam said. Just then, the guys Cammie warned me about came in.

"What do we have here? I don't recognize her. Must be a Gallagher girl." One of the guys said in a mocking voice. On our way here, Cam explained how the town's people view us. Part of their cover.

"No shit Sherlock." I shot back. I may not be like the other Gallagher girls, but I'll certainly defend them. Besides, Cam said I should act bratty.

"Hey, wait a minute. That's the girl from the news!" One of the other guys said. The other two guys looked at each other with a smug look.

"She's the freak everyone says was abducted by aliens! Hey, where are the other two guys?" The third guy asked.

"Wow," I said. "I didn't realize the guys here were so stupid. It's an ALL GIRLS school. Do you really think they'd accept guys?" I kind of hoped they did, but I didn't plan on telling them that.

"Oh, so because you go to some fancy boarding school now and we don't that makes you smarter than us?" The fourth asked sarcastically.

"Clearly." I said. These guys were making it too easy. "Why don't you four grow a pair and stop harassing the Gallagher girls." This made the first guy angry.

"Why don't you stop acting like a little bitch and go back to your snobby little friends!" He shot back.

"Because," I said, "we snobby little bitches like to come out of our castle and play with all the little peasants running around this slum of a town!" Now they all looked really mad. This was getting fun! I couldn't help but smile.

"All you Gallagher girls think you're so much better than us! Well, you're not! You're just spoiled little brats that have daddy's money to fall back on!" Another guy said.

"Wait, I thought we were snobby little bitches, not spoiled brats." I said with fake confusion. I heard giggling through the comms. I almost forgot Cam could hear everything I was saying.

"You goddamn bitch! Why don't you just crawl back to that pile of rocks you call a school and go fuck yourself?" Another one said.

"Well, first of all," I said in the snobbiest way I could, "there are four dirty peasants blocking my way. Second, I'd rather be carried by servants my daddy paid for than crawl. Last, I wanted to look around town a bit before I left. Now, if you would please move your fat asses out of the way, I would like to go to another store." I said confidently. I started to push past them when one guy grabbed my arm. "Ooo, such a gentleman." I said sarcastically.

"Listen here, you little bitch!" The guy who grabbed my arm said.

"Yes? What can I do for you, you little cunt?" I said in my sweetest, most sincere voice. He was starting to hurt me, but there was no way I'd show it. He gripped my arm harder when I said that, but I just blocked out the pain.

"I don't appreciate you tone, you little whore!" He spat.

"Well, I could change my tone if it would make you little fuckers happier." I said. Okay, now my arm was really starting to hurt, but I refused to let my voice or face show it. I think my arm is going to bruise.

"I've had just about enough of you, you bitch!" The guy holding my arm was turning red. I was too far back in the store to look for help. I couldn't see an employee either, so I guess I had to handle this myself.

"Dude, calm down!" One of the guys said. It looked like they were afraid of the guy holding my arm. Uh, oh. Not a good sign. Defiantly not a good si-Ouch! Okay, now my arm was getting numb. Time to go.

"Why don't you three stop acting like pussies and get your friend off me!" They looked at each other, then at the guy holding-no, strangling, my arm, and then back at each other. Their scared faces said it all. "No? Okay, you've left me no choice." With that, I took a deep breath and bit as hard as I could into the guy's arm. He screamed in pain and I tasted blood and, I think, I felt my teeth hit his bone. Ew! I'm glad the guy I bit had a short sleeved shirt on, but I had a feeling he was regretting it right about now. Needless to say, I bolted out of the store and crosses the street to find Cam with the two people that stopped her from following me in. "We should probably go. Like now." I said once I reached her.

"What happened to you?" Cam asked, clearly worried she let me out of her sight. I could still hear the guy I bit shouting and cursing in pain.

"Your mouth is bleeding!" The girl next to Cam said. What did Cam call her, Deedee?

"Don't worry about that. It's the other guy's blood." I said.

"What?" She screeched.

"What happened to your arm?" They guy asked. Josh? I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, and just as I thought, a nasty bruise was forming on my arm.

"Some of the local jack asses and I got into a little argument," I pointed to the bruise, "So I bit him in self-defense." Just then, the four guys emerged from the store and the one I bit was holding his arm. His arm, by the way, seemed to be gushing a large amount of blood. When I turned back to Cammie, I saw she was impressed by the size of the wound. I guess she didn't take me for a fighter. She smiled at me, and then pulled me away with my good arm.

We headed back to the school, and when we got there, Cam's mom was waiting and looked her daughter right in the eye and said, "You'd better have a good explanation."

To which Cam responded with, "Just listen to the recording. The comms picked up everything." Once we got back to the school and sorted everything out, Cam got permission from her mom to show her friends the recording of my little conversation with the locals. Cam, Bex, Liz, Macey, and even Zach gathered in our room to hear the recording. By the time it was over, there wasn't a person in the room who wasn't laughing, including me.

"I didn't know you had it in you." Macey said. The others looked impressed.

"Well," I said, "neither did I. Although I didn't expect the guy to grab me."

"At least you were able to defend yourself." Cam said.

"I'd say you're now an official Gallagher girl." Zach said.

Once Zach left and the others went to bed, I lay awake and faced the fact that I'd have a nightmare tonight. I decided to close my eyes and get it over with.

**A/N Next chapter WILL have gore! Please review!**


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